Part 4 - Matthew 11:12 - WELL HE STARTED IT!
Since I had nothing better to do and everyone had gone out, I decided to watch the war movie "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN". It was some years ago now and I was at my daughter's house and Joel, my son-in-law had just connected his TV WITH SURROUND SOUND. The movie was set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II and since it was directed by Steven Spielberg I thought it might be worth watching. THE VERY FIRST SCENES SHOCKED ME! They depicted the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944 and the intensity of the surround sound and slaughter of men brought me to the point of turning it off. I couldn't watch or hear such a graphic portrayal.
As a Chaplain I speak with old servicemen who have encountered the horrors of war, and I can only begin to appreciate why they speak with tears running down their faces after all these years.
MURDERED! Beheaded! Violence of unspeakable proportion! And their legacy has been repeated. Those who followed their example were ruthlessly mistreated, flogged and threatened and some were never released except into the hands of God. No I'm no longer talking about World War II. I'm talking about the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries.
They were demonised by family members, beaten and bruised by the brutality of violent men, betrayed by the very people they loved the most!
But they didn't give an inch and cut through the garbage of humanity with a message as sharp as a razor and as lethal to those who resisted as hell itself.
IF YOU'RE A PACIFIST DON'T READ MATTHEW 11:12! Although this is part of what Jesus said, the red letter part of your Bible, YOU WON'T LIKE IT! Jesus spoke of VIOLENCE AND WARFARE and said we would be in the thick of it.
"And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it."
"Well he started it!" "No I didn't, she did!" Sorry, I am just reminded of my childhood days when the arguments got too heated with my sister. But this is a slightly bigger battle. John started it and the repercussions of his actions have been ongoing.
Jesus has already made it clear to His disciples about the PERSECUTION that they will encounter when they go out to preach and heal. There's a WAR THEME amplified with violence and heard through the sound system of their experience. Dare to follow Jesus and you may not get out alive.
John is in prison and soon to die because of his faith. There's a SPIRITUAL BATTLE going on and demonic activity has spewed out volcano-like. The fault lines are moving and sin is surfacing in indescribable acts of violence. As the demonic hordes engulf them Jesus and His disciples cast them out with a force that stuns the Satanic world and disrupts ours (see Matthew 10:8 note).
You want to be follower of Jesus? It's a breeze but the cold icy tentacles of violence may cause you to shudder. Jesus warned His disciples that they'd be tried in courts, flogged with whips, arrested, betrayed, rejected by family members, hated by nations, persecuted in various towns, called names, threatened, and even killed "because you are My followers" (Matthew 10:18). Why go through all this? Well, this was their opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Jesus (Matthew 10:17-42). No other reason than that. NO OTHER CAUSE MORE WORTH DYING FOR. John would soon find this out at the hands of the savagery and violence of king Herod. HE WOULD BE MURDERED! Jesus Himself made it clear that He didn't come to bring peace but a sword (Matthew 10:34). When it comes down to it this sword of truth cuts through the dissenting hearts of men. He of course was also murdered and those who orchestrated His death heard the crescendo of their violence at the Cross and it's reverberation has been ringing in our ears ever since. It seems Satan isn't going to take this lying down but the blows inflicted upon him will prove to be fatal for his purposes.
It was all John's doing. HE STARTED IT! Stirring people up and calling them "a brood of snakes" (see Matthew 3:7 note) didn't help. No half hearted, lilly livered coward here! The question is "AM I?"
God bless you Church in the Spiritual battle you face today as you take up the Cross and I'm not talking about petty things we have to put up with. In Luke 9:23-24 (NLT) Jesus describes the commitment level in this way "If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it."
Pastor Ross
